In the haor, joy and sorrow alike depend on paddy. If farmers in the district can bring home this one crop, their food for the year is secured. But this year nature seems to have turned its face from this low-lying district. Several days of heavy rain have submerged Boro paddy in most of Sunamganj's haors, and farmers across the haors now weep in silence as they watch their crop go under.

The report sums up the situation: water is rising in all the rivers; a flood is feared in the district; paddy on 7,000 hectares is waterlogged; and paddy on 3,000 hectares has been completely destroyed.

Amjad Ali farms in Shialmara haor. With his own sweat and money borrowed from a moneylender at high interest, he grew Boro paddy on 12 keare of land. (The keare is a popular regional unit of land measurement in the haor areas; the report says one keare is usually taken to equal 30 decimals, or 12 shatak.) But he never brought that paddy home. Heavy rain waterlogged the haor in a single night and his ripe paddy went under, and he broke down in tears.

It is not only Amjad Ali; across the haor there seems to be no one to hear the farmers' silent weeping. Some are crying over lost paddy, while others are trying desperately to save what is left.

A visit to Shialmara and Korchar haors found a different picture from other years, when harvesting, threshing and drying would be in full swing at this time. Silence lay over the whole haor. Some were weeping over lost paddy, while others, short of labourers, were working desperately with their families to save the rest.

"It's all over for me," said Amjad Ali. "I worked hard to grow Boro paddy, but I couldn't bring home a single grain. Now I'm worried about how I'll feed my family for the whole year and how I'll repay the moneylender."

Farmer Abul Mia said: "I grew paddy with so many dreams, but it went under before I could bring it home. If there were a drainage system in the haor, we might not have suffered this loss. Now farmers can do nothing but weep."

Hasan Ali said: "The tears of haor farmers have no value. Having lost their only crop, farmers are at their wits' end."

Saikat Mia, a farmer in Korchar haor, said: "Many farmers' paddy has gone under rainwater. And for the paddy that is left, we can't find labourers to cut it. So we are trying to cut it quickly with family members before it goes under."

Kabir Mia, a farmer in Shanir haor, said: "Fearing lightning, labourers are not cutting paddy in the haor. Meanwhile the rivers are rising, the haor is getting waterlogged and embankments are breaking. So, not fearing the lightning, I am trying to cut the paddy and bring it home myself with family and relatives."

According to the agriculture department, Boro paddy was grown on 223,511 hectares in the district this season, and about 47 per cent has already been harvested. But in the continuous rain of the past few days, paddy on 7,000 hectares in various haors has been waterlogged, of which 3,000 hectares have been completely destroyed. At field level, however, the damage is even greater, the report says.

Mohammad Omar Faruk, deputy director of the Sunamganj Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), said farmers are being urged to harvest paddy in the haors. Efforts are also under way to bring in labourers from outside to ease the shortage, and farmers are being advised to cut the paddy and keep it on high ground.

According to the Sunamganj Water Development Board, on the morning of Thursday (30 April) the Surma rose 3 centimetres and was flowing 1.51 metres below the danger level. The district recorded 8 millimetres of rain in the previous 24 hours. Mamun Howlader, executive engineer of the district Water Development Board, said water is rising in all of Sunamganj's rivers. The rain will continue for several more days, and hill runoff will bring a flood situation to the district, he said.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.